§ Mr. GardinerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many referrals there have been of children up to the age of five years to social services departments in England and Wales in each year since 1997; and who initiated these referrals. [144136]
§ Margaret HodgeInformation on the number of referrals by age group is not collected centrally in England or Wales and nor are details of who initiated referrals. Information was collected for the first time in 2002 on the total number of referrals to social services departments of 0–17 year olds in England and the figure during the year ending 31 March 2002 was 569,400. Total figures for 2003 will be released in the publication "Referrals, Assessments and Children and Young People on Child Protection Registers, England—Year ending 31 March 2003" which is due to be published in January 2004.